Journey: Underwater Horror
by Raphaella
Summary: A side scene from my story Journey, in which Cid, Barret, Red, Cait and Vincent attempt to retrieve the Huge Materia from the Gelnika, but encounter some nasty obstacles. Rated for language.


**Journey**

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**AN**: As requested by TeZan. This takes off immediately following the end of chapter 32 Underwater Reactions when Cid lost consciousness in the downed Gelnika. Hope you like, TeZan ; )

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"Cid!" Barret slung himself to his knees and grabbed the pilot's unresponsive body. Blood was spreading everywhere, and with each flicker of the lights the amount increased alarmingly. "Cid! Shit, he's bleeding really bad!"

Vincent dropped to a crouch and tore apart Cid's shirt. The wound was lost beneath the sheer amount of blood, his entire chest was red. Vincent cast a quick, sharp look over his shoulder, his eyes wide beneath a furious brow as they swept through the darkness. He could sense more creatures approaching. He balled the ruined shirt in his hand quickly, pressed it hard against where he knew Cid's wound was and grabbed Barret's one hand, forcing it in place of his.

"Keep pressure on it," he told him firmly, already rising to his feet with his gun in hand. Something made a noise from the shadows around them. "We need to get him out of here _now_."

Barret watched the man spin to face the unseen, unintentionally glancing into the darkness as the lights flickered again. His heart jumped as something huge ambled towards them. Red bounded towards it, teeth bared and tail blazing in the dark like a beacon.

Unwilling to watch any further, Barret turned to Cait. "I gotta lift him, you keep pressure on that, got it?" He indicated the shirt.

Cait uttered a quick noise of understanding and took position where Barret's hand was, switching strength for the robot's weight. He pressed down with his little hands as the large gunman slid his arms under the bleeding pilot and lifted them both up.

The sound of Vincent's gun cracked through the air, followed by the thunderous roars of the monsters lurking in the intermittent shadows. More gunshots. There were many creatures advancing on them, drawn out of their broken cages or whatever they had been locked inside. Red growled and lunged somewhere behind.

"Cait, keep an eye on the shadows ahead," Barret instructed, striding as carefully and as quickly as he could back to the set of stairs they had come from. The lights had failed again, leaving Barret no choice but to rely on the robot's superior vision. He kicked something on the floor and it rattled away. Behind, Vincent's gun never ceased firing and the roar of a fire materia burst from the darkness, throwing orange light around the cargo bay. Monsters shrieked and screeched. How many where there?

"Barret, stop!" Cait cried. "There's a monster –"

The sound of something crawling down the stairs breached the ruckus and a foul smell overpowered the dark man's nose. He coughed and stumbled back, sensing rather than seeing a huge mass approach.

From the darkness behind Red lunged to their rescue, leaping onto the monster ahead and tearing at its flesh with his sharp teeth. It screamed. The light of Red's tail thrashed wildly.

"Oh, my…" Cait whispered in horror, his face watching the fight before. Barret didn't know whether he was glad he couldn't see anything or not. "Go, Barret!" he said suddenly. "Go now while Red has the beast occupied!"

Barret legged it as fast as he dared, past the sound of his four-legged friend battling the creature. Vincent's gun continued to pierce the air as he stumbled up the stairs, and he dared to cast a fleeting look at the flashes of bullet fire. At that second the lights flashed on for a split second, and Barret caught a glimpse of the scene. Vincent was surrounded.

"Barret, we've got to keep going," Cait urged him, noticing where he was looking. He reaffirmed his pressure on the blood-soaked shirt. It was beginning to fail as a compress. "Cid's heartbeat is _weakening_."

Turning his eyes blindly to the direction ahead, Barret surged on. He almost tripped over an object, nearly losing his balance and jerking Cid's prone form. "Shit!" He hissed.

Below, the gunfire ceased, but what followed was a familiar, unmistakable sound of something unnatural. Barret's eyes strayed once again to the darkness of the lower deck, just in time to witness the supernatural orb of energy swirl in the shadow. How a black sphere of magic _glowed_ was unexplainable, but it did – and from the cocoon burst several bright balls of flames from the clawed, inhuman hand of another monster. Vincent.

The attacking creatures wailed as they ignited, but if Barret was going to watch any more he was interrupted as something flew into his vision. Red leap from behind him to dive upon a small, wriggling monster stalking Barret from the floor. It screeched as the hound tore it to pieces.

"Hurry!" Red turned to look at Barret, before running off to clear the path ahead.

Barret complied. Cid was heavy in his arms, but his motionless body was worrying, and the gunman dreaded to think what he looked like when he stepped into light.

A few seconds later, through the darkness, he saw the door out of the cargo bay. He half craned his neck back. "Vincent! We're almost out! C'mon!"

He broke from the darkness into the flickering lights of the corridor, sloshing into ankle-deep water. His eyes automatically looked down at Cid in his arms, and his heart skipped a dreaded beat. The pilot was pale, paler than Barret had ever seen him. His mouth was parted, and blood was dripping into the water in a steady, terrifying stream. Cait's hands and feet were stained. Before him, Red stared in horror.

Renewed energy carried Barret towards the airlock. He didn't look down again until he came to the ladder. It was tricky, but he managed to climb quickly with Cid cradled in his strong gun arm. His feet slipped in the blood dripping on the rungs.

When they burst into the submarine Barret set the pilot down on the floor of the control cabin and Cait carefully climbed down to the floor, applying all his might to the seeping wound. The shirt was a mess, it was too drenched to provide any useful barricade. Red stood back, helpless.

"We've gotta get moving – " Barret panted. He looked back through the sub. "VINCENT!"

"Contact the _Highwind_," Cait urged him quickly.

Barret swallowed, his throat dry, his heart pounding. Cid's life was hanging in the balance, and it was up to him to get them to aid. He grabbed his phone and fingered the buttons at the same time as the sound of monsters fighting drew near outside.

Before Cloud could even answer Barret had cut across. "Cloud, Cid's been hurt, _bad_ – we're on our way straight up to the surface. We need the medic as soon as we're clear."

Cloud was instantly serious. "Understood, we're moving right now to meet your position."

"Hurry," Barret pressed, and hung up.

Vincent appeared in the cabin, the sound of monsters had ceased. The pale man swept over to Cid's side and knelt down quickly beside. Barret had never seen Vincent's expression so… unguarded. He had let fear slip through.

"Help me remove his jacket," Vincent commanded, already pulled it from one arm. His careless gauntlet drew shallow lesions on the pilot's skin.

Barret immediately assisted, and between them both they had two good hands in which to strip the pilot's clothing from him. Vincent yanked the sodden shirt from Cait and replaced it quickly with the jacket.

"Take us up, now," Vincent ordered, his eyes darting across Cid's prone form.

Barret threw himself into the control chair and his hand flew over the controls, immensely glad Cid had taught him how to pilot the submarine. However when he attempted to apply speed the entire sub jerked and warning lights flashed.

"The hatch!" Cait realized.

"Fuck," Barret hissed. He released the sealed lock and the submarine ploughed forward. "No, no, up! Up!" He pounded a few more controls and the boat began to ascend. "How's he doing?"

"Not good," Cait answered, pulling a lifejacket pack from under one of the seats and sliding it underneath Cid's head. "His breathing is shallow. _Really_ shallow. I don't know what to do…"

Barret turned from the controls to watch his unconscious friend. He looked like death, and that scared him.

A few minutes later a quiet beeping alerted them to their approaching the surface. They were almost there…

"He's not breathing."

Barret's heart froze and he whirled back around. Vincent hovered a cheek above the pilot's mouth; his red eyes wide and weighted with realization. Cait's hands were at his face.

"Do something!" Barret cried, lunging from his chair, hands hovering, itching to aid.

Vincent planted his good hand over the middle of Cid's chest and the gauntlet atop. He started a round of steady compressions, jerking the pilot's limp body with each one before checking for breathing. Nothing. Vincent continued compressions, his brow furrowing in angry agitation, barely containing his composure.

Check. Nothing.

"C'mon, Cid," Barret chanted, hypnotized even as the submarine beeped louder, breaching the surface of the ocean. "Damnit, Cid, c'mon!"

Vincent tried again, Barret counted in his head. But still there was no life. Vincent pinched Cid's nose, gripped his chin and forced air into the dying man's lungs twice. He drew back, hair falling around the blonde's face. No movement.

A strangled growl escaped Vincent. "_Cid_," he called, reworking the man's chest as Barret was forced to attend the controls. Two more breaths.

Nothing.

"_Cid_!" Vincent dove onto his chest again. Something cracked. He continued, beginning to pant, eyes blazing. Red inched closer, an open look of worry in his eye.

A desperate rasp of air broke the frantic silence as Cid sucked air into his lungs, chest expanding. Vincent wrenched his hands clear as gasps filled the cabin, reasserting the jacket back over the seeping wound. Cait made a sob of relief as Vincent stared hard at the man.

"I see them!" Barret exclaimed, staring at his monitor as a blip indicated the _Highwind_'s approach. He punched the release for the upper hatch and dashed out of his chair to scoop Cid up carefully. "Hang in there, Cid – almost on your ship."

Vincent allowed Cait to take up position on the jacket as they whisked the pilot from the cabin and up the ladder. He followed at the rear.

The airship's crew had lowered a stretcher from the outer deck, quickly tugging Cid onboard. Barret, Red and Vincent climbed after, arriving on the deck as the Captain was quickly rushed inside. Everyone followed closely on their heels until they came to the infirmary.

Everything was a flurry of activity. Thomas barked urgent orders as he and several others lifted Cid from the gurney onto an operating table at the back of the room. Blood smeared everywhere, hands, clothing, the floor and the table. Thomas was already half red as he fought to keep his Captain alive.

The doors slid open and in flooded the other members of Avalanche, a mixture of fear and worry in their eyes.

"Oh no, Cid!" Tifa's large eyes widened in horror as her hands rose to her face in shock.

Yuffie appeared frozen at the sight of blood, halting in front of Cloud, watching the scene in silence. Cid was unmoving, his breathing had stopped again. Thomas was yelling orders. Avalanche felt helpless.

Cait Sith edge away from where he had been relieved of his pressure duty. His artificial fur was slickened in blood, and he appeared as shell shocked as the rest.

A heart monitor beeped to life – or tried to. The rhythm was inconsistent and dangerously slow over the noise of the crew working over Cid. Then it stopped, blaring out one continuous noise that stopped everyone's hearts.

"Defibrillator!" Thomas shouted.

The following actions were distressing to watch. Yuffie's eyes turned away as Cid's body convulsed against the current. Tifa gripped Barret's arm as he did so a second time and Cait looked away at the floor by his side, unable to watch. Listening was bad enough.

Cid's heart started and the medical team was finally able to focus on his wound as quickly as they could. He had lost so much blood… They fought to keep him alive. But it wasn't just that.

"Damnit, he's been poisoned," Thomas hissed fretfully as he detected the symptoms. He rushed away to grab more medical aids.

"Is he going to live?" Barret demanded.

"He is if I can help it," the medic swore. "Just what the hell attacked him?"

"Genetically engineered creatures," Cait answered at once.

Thomas growled. "Not good."

That, they all thought unanimously, was an understatement.

/

It was some time later when the activity died down, and the immediate threat passed. Avalanche had been instructed to wait outside as Thomas and his assistants had finished their exhausting work. More time was needed to concoct an antidote effective against the new poison coursing through Cid's veins, which kept him in the red zone longer and longer. Eventually, the antidote was administered, pulling Cid into a far better recovery chance. Thomas found Avalanche waiting in the corridor outside.

"He's in the clear," the medic said tiredly but happily.

A wave of relief passed across each face and those sitting down stood up.

"Can we go in?" Barret asked.

"He's asleep, but yes. He will probably regain consciousness in a day or so. It's a pity we don't have a cure materia. The wound was pretty deep _and_ long, and his sternum is fractured, too."

Barret glanced at Vincent, whose eyes had drifted, listening. He clearly looked relieved, however. Those were some of the clearest emotions Barret had ever seen etched into that pale face. He and Cid seemed to have formed a distinct friendship. What a strange pair.

Cait Sith hopped into the center of the group. "A cure materia, huh? I think I might have an answer to that problem…"

/

Night time wasn't as restful as usual. With a scheduled watched clock organized, each member of the group took time to guard over the Captain during his more critical part of recovery. The antidote could have undesired effects, and Thomas wanted an eye kept on him. And more importantly, if he were to wake, he wanted someone there to keep him resting.

"It midnight already?" Tifa asked, stretching wearily in her chair by Cid's cot.

The door slid shut behind Vincent as he approached. He had cleaned the blood from his hands. "You can retire for the night."

She smiled softly at him, heavy lidded. "He hasn't stirred once or made any movement. I don't know whether that's good or bad."

Vincent stood by her chair. "He is resting well," he assured her. "Cid never usually stops moving. Consider this a rare occasion."

She smiled wider and rose to her feet, flicking her hair back and picking up her book. "Do you want to borrow this?" She offered.

He shook his head. "I'll be fine."

Tifa stepped aside to free the chair, but the gunman didn't sit. "Barret told me you brought him back… You saved Cid."

Vincent's eyes glanced to Cid's sleeping face. "I couldn't not."

"He was really upset…" Tifa began, her smile fading away. "Barret. He couldn't help… with only one hand…"

Vincent blinked at her, watching. He looked down at his gauntlet, flexing his talons calmly. "Perhaps, when this is over he will be able to upgrade to a prosthetic hand."

Tifa considered this possibility. "Yeah," she answered, a small smile returning. "Perhaps he will." Her eyes lifted to his. "Thanks, Vincent."

He watched her leave. When the door had closed he turned the lights down and took up position in the chair she had occupied, resting his gaze on Cid. He had plenty of thoughts to entertain throughout the night…

/


End file.
